Back in May 2015, Microsoft launched the Surface 3 tablet as an affordable option to the premium Surface Pro 3. This tablet was received very well by consumers especially the budget conscious ones. The tablet was seen as a much better alternative to the flagship Surface Pro 3 that was out of reach for most people.
After more than a year on the market, Microsoft is now ready to stop producing the Surface 3 tablet. This was expected as the last couple of months have seen a limit in stock levels and configuration options which showed us that the company was not mass producing the tablet anymore.
Now Microsoft is confirming that it will stop producing this tablet this year. In a statement sent to ZDNet, Microsoft says that it will stop producing the Surface 3 over the next six months. In part, the statement reads, “Since launching Surface 3 over a year ago, we have seen strong demand and satisfaction amongst our customers. Inventory is now limited, and by the end of December 2016, we will no longer manufacture Surface 3 devices.”
Interesting enough, Microsoft has not revealed if it is working on a device to replace the Surface 3. This probably means that sales were not as good as the company had expected or it is just keeping things under wraps for now. The company announced the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book 2-in-1 devices last October so we will have to wait a few months to see if these will get updated or know if the company has killed the lineup.
One thing that Microsoft has always done with its Surface devices is limit their availability to a few countries only. For example, the company has never officially brought them to Kenya and so very few people know of their existence. And even if you end up finding them here, their prices are usually very high and don’t make sense compared to other locally available devices.
Let’s hope that Microsoft will rethink its strategy as it ends production of the Surface 3 tablet and come back with much better and slightly affordable devices that are available in most markets.
Read More: Three Reasons Why You Are Better Off Buying the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Instead Of the New MacBook
